
The iconic performer Johnny Cash died in 2003 at 71 years old. However, if Waldo the ostrich had succeeded, the singer’s life would have been cut short much earlier.
According to Far Out reports, this almost unbelievable incident occurred in 1981, during a period when Cash’s career was declining, and he spent considerable time on his Tennessee estate. In his 1997 memoir Cash, the singer recounted creating a private animal sanctuary near his home, housing various species. During a stroll, Cash noticed Waldo, an ostrich, appeared agitated by his presence, likely due to the recent loss of its mate.
This posed a serious threat. Ostriches, the largest birds on Earth, can reach heights of 9 feet and weigh over 320 pounds. Far from docile, their sharp talons can inflict severe harm when provoked.
As Waldo hissed, Cash kept walking but started devising a strategy for his return trip. The singer grabbed a 6-foot-long stick. True to expectations, the aggressive bird was still looking for a confrontation.
“When he began advancing toward me, I took the offensive and swung the stick hard at him,” Cash wrote. “I missed. He had already leaped into the air, and moments later, he descended with his massive toe, larger than my size-13 shoe, aimed at my abdomen. He struck me—there was no doubt he would—and I consider myself lucky. He only fractured two of my lower ribs and tore my stomach open down to my belt. If not for the sturdy belt and solid buckle, he would have gutted me as intended.”
A single strike from the stick hit the ostrich’s leg, finally deterring it from attempting to fatally wound the music legend.
The story surfaced in late 1981 when a Cash spokesperson informed The Tennessean that Waldo had “knocked him down” and “scratched him.” Cash was initially reluctant to verify the incident, the spokesperson noted, “because it sounded so absurd.”
The injuries reportedly caused Cash to battle an addiction to painkillers. The entire episode was reenacted in Sky Arts’ Johnny Cash and the Ostrich, a 30-minute special broadcast in 2018. As for Waldo, Cash allowed him to stay on the property before eventually donating him to a zoo.